Black Guard Killed In Delaware Prison Uprising Saved Coworkers’ Lives

Sgt. Steven Floyd is described as a hero, professional and dedicated family man.

While being held hostage by inmates, one of Sgt. Steven Floyd’s last acts was to save the lives of those coming to rescue him, the Washington Postreports.

“Even in his last moments as the inmates attempted to take over the building, Sgt. Floyd told a couple of lieutenants to get out of the building and that it was a trap,” Correctional Officers Association of Delaware President Geoffrey Klopp stated.

A team of guards on Thursday finally broke through a barricade the inmates set up at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware. That ended a nearly 20-hour hostage standoff, but they found Floyd, 47, dead.

Inmates used homemade weapons to seize a building on Wednesday at the all-male, 2,500-prisoner facility. They took three guards and a counselor hostage.

They released two of the hostages during negotiations, and the tactical team rescued the female counselor. The authorities did not immediately release details of how Floyd, a 16-year veteran, died.

The Post reported that one of the inmates told a local newspaper that they wanted better education and rehabilitation programs. An inmate also told the negotiator that they wanted an apology from Delaware Gov. John Carney for “decades of oppression.”

Floyd was a husband, a father of two adult children and a grandfather, DelawareOnline, reported.

He’s described as dedicated to his job and family:

“He worked overtime three, four times a week to put his kids through college, through master’s school,” Klopp said, according to DelawareOnline. “Anything his kids or his wife wanted. Or his grandkids. He loved them with all his heart.”

The union chief also said he helped hundreds of fellow corrections officers as a union shop steward and would “go the extra mile” to help others.